Water foaming on top of tanks

Question
I have two tanks, a 2 gal and a 1 gal tank.  Have a male and female beta in the 2 and a male beta in the 1.  That water on top of the tank stays foamy all the time.  what should I do to stop that or is that OK.

Answer
Good afternoon, Les, thanks for your question.

It's usually not recommended to keep a male and female betta together long term. It seems to keep the two "on edge" permanently. I do hope that you are using a tank divider, otherwise the female could incur serious harm...

The foaming could be the male bettas building bubble nests, or it could be scum. Do you use StressCoat (or other slime additives) to condition your water? If so, I would switch to using Prime by Seachem. I have experienced some frothing after using StressCoat, especially in tanks with vigorous filtration. Here's a page with a picture of a bubble nest:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_nest

How often are you changing the water in the tanks? You should be changing about 30% a week in the 2 gallon and at least 20% in the 1 gallon tank. If you are keeping the water quality high, in all likelihood the foam is a bubble nest. If you are using Melafix (or Bettafix), using StressCoat or other slime conditioners, or not changing the water frequently enough, it is probably protein scum.

Good luck with your bettas, and if you haven't already, check out http://www.bettatalk.com - one of the most comprehensive betta sites on the internet, administered by the president and founder of the L.A. betta society.

Nicole